System for Supplying Paint  from can to Brush

ABSTRACT

The present invention describes a system for supplying paint, for painting, consisting of a brush or roller that in its central part has a manual suction pump built in the actual brush or control part of the roller where the paint arrives in order to be dispensed to the bristles; said pump consists of the connection of a circular cavity, located in a lower piece, with a central, round perforation in an upper piece, said pieces forming the brush. In the outer upper part of the chamber there is a channel that surrounds the entire central perforation but leaves a border between said channel and the edge of the perforation, in such a manner that the channel houses a ring that will tension and fix an elastic membrane functioning as a bellows for the suction and the expulsion of the paint. It also consists of a container for storing paint, which may be a can or closed container that has a perforation in the central upper part via which tubing is inserted for carrying the paint to the brush.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the technical field of building, specifically to the finishing steps: it provides a system to deliver pain to a brush or a roller.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

Brushes painting is still done in a traditional manner: the brush is immersed in a paint can, the excess paint is removed, and then a few brush strokes are applied on the wall or on the surface to be painted. When there is no more paint on the brush, the process of immersing the brush in the paint can is repeated. Consequently, a lot of time is wasted and there is an impending risk of getting soiled.

For that reason, a variety of systems that supply paint to a paintbrush or a roller brush have been developed in order to minimize the aforementioned problems. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,389,772 describes a fountain paintbrush, which includes a paint container with a strap on the top to hang it to the shoulders of the user, and a bottom strap to attach it to the waist of the user.

On each side of the container is disposed a plate, which holds the mechanisms supplying paint to the brush, where said mechanisms are pivotally connected to the plates and are provided with coils which arch over the upper end of the paint container and form vertical arms external to the container.

The paint is forced to flow from the container through a control valve and a flexible tube to the handle of the paintbrush, so that the paintbrush is provided with an opening positioned longitudinally, which terminates in branches that are between the bristles. To provide paint to the top end branches and to do the same with a flexible material, it is observed that they will conduct the paint to an adjacent point to the end of the bristles and at the same time that they will be flexible enough so as to not interfere with the painting operation. A lever is pivotally secured to one side of the brush handle, which is provided with an L-shaped arm disposed in a transverse slot of the handle.

The arm of the L-shaped lever normally compresses the flexible tube so that paint will not be fed to the bristles; this compression is caused by the paint supplying coiled spring which is interposed between the lever's button operated by the user's thumb and the recess in the handle of the brush. During the painting operation, when it is desired to feed additional paint to the bristles, the user presses the button with his/her thumb and the paint is forced to flow into the bristles by means of the pressure mechanisms placed in the container.

The disadvantages that can be observed in this system are that two mechanisms are required to supply paint to the brush: the pressure mechanisms placed within the container, and those that are like stopcocks placed in the handle of the brush. Said mechanisms are constituted by many parts; moreover the stopcock mechanism can easily get obstructed if the brush is not clean enough.

The U.S. Pat. No. 1,425,959 describes a paintbrush with a handle having a portion of a channel or a tube extending inside and lengthwise the handle, the top part of the mentioned tube branches into three openings placed inside the paintbrush bristles, said tubes branches being attached to an essentially flat frame. A flexible tube connects the tube with a tank or bag containing the paint, and provided with a strap by which it may be supported by the shoulders of the user. The bristles are covered by a protective mechanism, which is comprised of telescopic members adjusted around the neck of the paintbrush, which are retractable, expandable and covers the paint bristles with a lid when is not in use.

The document does not mention how the paint flows to the openings of the tubes, it is deduced that it is done by means of gravity. Therefore the mentioned bag or tank must always be placed higher than the brush, which as a result is impractical for the user as it means that he has to be in a higher position himself than the paintbrush as otherwise the paint is unlikely to flow or it would only flow out from the tubes in very limited quantities.

Patent demand UK 2338178 A describes an applicator system and a storage bag for paint, which includes a sealed flexible bag where the paint is stored, said bag having in its bottom part an one-way valve, from where departs a flexible tube which is connected to a painting instrument, such as a paintbrush or a roller. To paint with this system, you have to exert a pressure on the bag to push the paint through the one-way valve.

The principal disadvantage of this invention is that it necessarily requires some pressure to be applied on the bag for the paint to flow out, so obviously it does not deliver an adequate amount of paint, therefore the paintbrush can saturate or delivers very limited quantities of paint; furthermore it is difficult to clean the bag.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,504,487 refers to a device composed by a paintbrush which has a hollow handle, said handle having a base portion with an internal bore, a flexible tube passes through said hollow handle and in one extremity of the said bore has a valve to control the flow inside the tube, a removable frame for said base is composed of a plate having a skirt flange, a wedge disposed in the center and secured by the frame and bristles that are secured in the frame. A tube that extends from the control valve which extends further than the said plate and wedge and has a paint spreader, said paint spreader has a removable neck which secures the flexible tube to the said spreader surrounded by said bristles.

The valve is mounted within a valve casing placed into the paintbrush between the handle and the bristles, and is operated by a button. It is preferred to have a gasket mounted on the outside end of the casing to surround the perforation and to have a plate secured to the base to clamp tightly against the gasket and therefore prevent any possible leakage of paint from the valve.

The disadvantage of this device is that it requires two mechanisms to supply paint to the paintbrush; the pressure mechanism in the tank and those that work as a stopcock placed in the paintbrush handle. Those mechanisms are constituted of an excessive number of elements; furthermore, the stopcock mechanism can easily be obstructed if the paintbrush is not cleaned well.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,603,694 describes a device to feed paint to a paintbrush, which consists of a pistol-type handle, on the end of which is placed a hollow cube to which is fixed the bristles of a paintbrush, in the hollow cube there is a mechanism that acts as a trigger to pump paint between the bristles.

The pumping mechanism works conjointly with the feeding mechanism pump to supply the paint to the injectors, in order to deliver the paint at the nearest point of the tips of the bristles and after each feeding the nozzles are withdrawn from the bristles into the hollow cube so they does not interfere with the flexing of the bristles.

The hollow handle and the pumping device are connected by a flexible tube to a portable paint container which can be carried on the shoulders or the back of the person using the device. The disadvantages of this device are that it is a very complex assembly constituted by many parts, as well as the impracticality of carrying the pistol type handles in addition to the weight of the paintbrush; moreover it is complicated to clean.

The patent demand US 2005/0226680 detail a device to continuously paint, utilizing a standard paintbrush. The device is capable of delivering a continuous or an intermittent flow of common paint or paint-like materials to a surface, which consists of a stationary platform mounted on the brush between the area of the brush handle and bristles, and securely held in place by a pair of lateral clamps, these are designed to accommodate a variety of brush sizes, and as an alternative, a broad band of flexible material having a series of central perforations longitudinally, and having at its end a rigid tube reusable, with self-adhesive material, mounted on the top of the stationary platform or alternately, held in a place centrally by the perforations in the flexible band. The tube acts as a conduit of paint, which is delivered from a remote source to the rigid tube via another flexible connecting tube, the paint being pumped or delivered to the rigid tube and then delivered onto the bristle portion, the paint flow being distributed on the bristles by an apron (part that distributes the paint to the bristles). It also has a paint container which inside has a paint siphon and an electric pump to deliver paint through the flexible tube as far as the apron.

The inconvenient of this device is that it is fixed and a power source close by is necessary for the pump, moreover, as the paint is applied externally, there is a very high probability of paint spillage.

The patent demand WO 02/15741 is a device that mentions a paintbrush that delivers a constant supply of paint, without stopping to paint. It consists in a sealed container with compressed air (as a fumigation device), connected by a flexible tube to a paintbrush, which has a hollow and bored axis in its cylindrical body, in order to supply paint externally to the inside even while painting. The paint is propelled from the container to the brush or roller brush by mean of compressed air. A paint flow control valve is necessary. It's important to consider that the most critical part of the device, the pressure pump, doesn't enter into contact with the paint, only with the air, so its cleaning is not so critical, though it is not easy.

The inconvenience of this device is that the quantity of paint to be injected is not easy regulated. In addition, with respect to the present invention, the device is expensive, complex, impractical and difficult to clean.

In order to eliminate all the disadvantages mentioned above, a new painting device has been developed, which supplies paint to a paintbrush or a roller, in a precise, controlled and continuously measured way. This invention allows painting with a controlled and easy flow of paint to the bristles of the brush or to the fabric of the roller, with the following features and advantages:

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The detailed characteristics of the present paint supply system to a paintbrush or a roller brush, which are described below and illustrated by the drawings, are cited as an example and should not be considered as limitative.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The FIG. 1 is a conventional front view of the painting system.

The FIG. 2 is an A-A′ cross-sectional view of the paintbrush showed in the FIG. 1, where we can see the valves.

The FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the paintbrush, without the flexible tube

The FIG. 4 is a front view of the lower piece of the paintbrush, where we can see the channels where the paint will flow and the perforation where the suction pump is mounted.

The FIG. 5 is a front view of the upper piece of the paintbrush.

The FIG. 6 is an exploded B-B′ cross-sectional view of the paintbrush.

The FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a valve.

The FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a valve, already mounted.

The FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of a roller, which is one of the embodiments of the invention.

The FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of one embodiment of the painting system, where it can be observed that the suction pump is located in the flexible tube which is connected to the paint container.

The FIG. 11 is an exploded view of the preferred embodiment of this invention, where it can be seen how a removable bristle base is mounted.

This system to supply paint to a brush or a roller brush, is constituted from: a paintbrush, which in turn is made up in two parts, a upper piece (FIG. 5) and a lower piece (FIG. 4); where the lower piece have a first channel 5, extending through the entire handle 1 of this piece, in the bottom part of the channel 5 there is a semi cube-shaped drilling 2 that allows manipulation of the connection of one flexible tube 4 to the said channel 5. So it's important to highlight that the channel 5 ends in a slimmer part with a cannula shape 3 to be connected to the flexible tube 4; in the upper part of the first channel 5 there is a first hollow 6 where the entry valve 7 is located and immediately following there is a circular cavity 8 where the paint that will be delivered to the bristles 17 of the brush flows; the circular cavity 8 has in its upper part a second hollow 9 where the exit valve 10 is located, which extends to a second channel 11, where the channel branches into at least three paint exit channels 12, located between the bristles 17 of the paintbrush. In the lower part of the handle, there is a fork hole 13 formed within the drilling 2; this fork hole 13 has a small duct 14 and a second duct 15 which is slightly larger than the first duct 14, these ducts go completely through the fork hole 13.

The upper piece has practically the same structure regarding to the channels and hollows of the lower piece, with the exception that instead of having a circular cavity 8, this one has a round perforation 16, located precisely in the place of the circular cavity 8 of the lower piece, also it has the same dimension as said cavity 8, so that when the frontal surface of the lower piece (FIG. 4) is joined to the rear surface of the upper piece (FIG. 5), there is a perfect union, forming in this way a primary channel that goes through the handle 1 of the paint brush, as well as the channels 11 and 12 which will allow the paint to flow to the bristles 17. On the other hand, placing the round perforation 16 on top of the circular cavity 8 creates a suction chamber where the paint that will be expulsed to the bristles 17 is temporarily stored. For this reason said perforation 16 is surrounded externally by a channel 18, in such a manner that a border is formed between said channel 18, and the edge of the perforation 16. In the channel 18 a ring 20 is placed, which will tense and affix an elastic membrane 19 that will act as a pump for the suction and expulsion of the paint coming from the paint container 23, the ring 20 is secured with at least two fixation blocks 21 which are positioned on both diametrically opposed sides of the perforation 16 on the frontal surface of the upper piece.

One of the variants of the present invention is that the elastic membrane 19 is substituted by a preformed convex membrane (giving it the appearance of a dome) formed of a flexible material resistant to deformation, with which we can obtain a larger suction chamber, and consequently a larger quantify of paint can be expulsed to the bristles 17.

In the hollows 6 and 9 are positioned respectively the entry valve 7 and the exit valve 10, which are made up of, in this case, a hollow tube 22, where said tube has in one extremity a narrow exit 24 and in the other extremity a large exit 25; a spring 26 goes there vertically through the hollow tube 22; the spring 26 is attached in one of its extremities to an insert 27, said insert 27 is placed in the large exit 25, and works as a lid for said exit, whereas in the opposite extremity of the spring 26 is localized a ball 28, which regulates the passage of paint through the narrow exit 24 of the valves. The valves are hermetically sealed with a seal or a “O ring” gasket 41, which fits firmly on the channel of the hollows 6 and 9 on every sides, to prevent the entrance of air or paint into the hollows 6 and 9 or into the valves 7 and 10, and also to secure the valves and prevents them from moving or shifting out of place. It is important to mention that the preferred valve material is a rust-proof material such as plastic, among others, in such a way to allow easy cleaning of the parts without having mould or oxidation inside of the valves. The valves are placed in the hollows 6 and 9 in the following way: the entry valve 7 should be placed upright, with the narrow exit 24 facing the first channel 5 and the insert 27 facing toward the suction chamber; The exit chamber 10 is placed at 45 degree °, but in a reverse position compared to the entry valve 7, consequently the narrow exit 24 remains in contact with the suction chamber and the insert 27 facing toward the channel 11 which delivers the paint to the bristles 17. In such a way that when pressure is applied on the elastic membrane 19 by the thumb of a user, the ball 28 of the exit valve 10 moves into the tube 22, thus allowing the passage of paint to the channels 11 and 12 which then feed the paint to the bristles 17, while at the same time in the entry valve 7 the ball 28 closes the narrow entry 24 therefore avoiding the backflow of the paint from the suction chamber toward the channel 5. On the other hand, when removing the thumb pressure on the elastic membrane 19, the valves act in a reverse way and in this way the suction chamber is provided of paint that is stored in the container 23. It is worth mentioning that the valves may vary in their construction or form, as it is possible to adapt to the brush diaphragm valves, ball valves, or other types of valves to operate the pump, but in this case, the type of valve that is described is the one that gives the best result.

With the junction of the lower piece and upper piece are also formed in the lower part two small ducts 14 and 15 separated by a thin slot 29, where the duct with the larger diameter 15 serves to connect and disconnect the flexible tube 4 of the brush, because it has a slightly larger diameter than the flexible tube 4, In the other hand, the narrowest hole serves to fix the flexible tube 4 to the cannula 3 of the brush, thus avoiding accidents that could be caused by the loosening of the flexible tube 4 in the cannula 3; finally the thin slot 29 is used for passing the flexible tube 4 from one duct to the other; furthermore it makes a choke point in the flexible tube 4 when it is not desired to have paint flowing to the brush or returning to the container 23 (See FIG. 3).

The system also includes the container 23 that stores the paint, which can be a can or a closed container, with a perforation in the top central part, where said perforation shall have an appropriate diameter to receive in tightly the flexible tube 4, which transports the paint to the brush; a conventional gasket 30 is used to seal the junction between the flexible tube and the perforation of the container 23; and finally a harness 31 is added to the container, used to fasten or to suspend the container 23 to the user, the way that he prefers.

It is important to mention that a first version of the brush has fixed bristles, just like any conventional brush; and that in a second version the bristles 17 are removable, for which purpose a base 37 is set up where the bristles 17 are affixed, said base 37 contains some central perforations 38 to have the channels 12 pass through it and, at least, a couple of locks 39 located at the opposite ends to secure said base 37 to a canal 42 formed by a slight extension of the upper piece and lower piece, so that in said extension are fitted into their extremities the perforations 40 that will retain the locks 39 of the base 37 (see FIG. 11). Consequently, the system acquires other advantages, for example, when the bristles wears out, they are simply replaced by a new base with bristles, so there's no need to change the entire brush, moreover the cleaning of the bristles is easier because they can be washed separately, thereby eliminating the risk of damaging the channels 12 with friction that is created when the bristles are pressed against a solid base to squeeze out or eliminate the excess fluid.

Another variant of this system is to have the brush described above replaced by a conventional roller (see FIG. 9) that has a support shaft 32 with perforations 33 in the top part that goes inside the roller fabric 34. For this reason, an ergonomic handle 35 has to be adapted to the hand of the user. The handle 35 has a similar structure to the brush mentioned above, therefore we will not go into many further details, the difference consists of the handle of the roller 35 that does not need the channels 11 and 12 since the paint flows toward the roller fabric 34 through the support shaft 32 and then goes out by the perforations 33 in order to moisten the roller fabric 34.

Another variant of the system in question is to add a connector (not shown) to the flexible tube 4 to connect it to a faucet or water tap to clean the flexible tube 4 and the inside of the brush.

Another embodiment of the present invention is to place the entry valve 7 on the other extremity of the flexible tube, at the opposite end of the brush, said valve being immersed in the paint inside the container 23, as shown in FIG. 10, which would save the structure of the hollow 6 in the brush, as it would not be necessary.

It is noticeable that the present demand also includes a “kit”, which is made up of at least: one brush with fixed bristles, as described above; a handle 4, a paint container 23; an elastic membrane 19; a ring 20 to attach the elastic membrane; and a connector not shown that connects, on the opposite end of the brush, to the flexible tube 4 to connect it to a faucet or water tap in order to clean the internal part of the brush when it is desired.

A second “kit” is also included in this demand, which in this case is constituted by, at least: one brush without bristles; a removable base with bristles; a flexible tube 4; a paint container 23; an elastic membrane 19; a ring 20 to attach the elastic membrane; and a connector not shown that connect, on the opposite end of the brush, to the flexible tube 4 to connect it to a faucet or water tap in order to clean the internal part of the brush when it is desired. 

1. A paint supply system which consists of a paint brush with a built-in pump on the body of the paint brush; where said pup is provided with two valves, an entry one and an exit one; where the entry valve is placed toward a channel which extends through the brush handle; while the exit valve is placed in an upper channel which delivers paint to the brush bristles; a flexible tube is required to bring paint to the brush, therefore one end of the flexible tube is connected to the handle base and the other end is immersed in a paint container which has a harness in order to be supported by an user. The system is characterized by that: i) the suction/expulsion pump is formed by an open cavity 8, preferably circular, inserted into the body 1 brush; where the cavity is hermetically sealed by an elastic membrane 19 and a ring 20, which has a slightly larger diameter from the cavity 8 and is placed on the membrane, within a circular channel 18 which externally surrounds the mentioned cavity in order to tense the membrane; the ring is fixed with at least two fixation locks 21 which are screwed on both diametrically opposed sides, regarding the cavity on the body brush surface; and ii) the bottom part of the brush handle has a perforation 2 where protrudes a cannula 3 which connects the flexible tube
 4. And a fork hole 13 formed by said perforation 2 is transversally crossed by two conducts 14 and 15 which are connected between them by a transversal thin slot 29; one of the ducts has larger diameter 15 to allow the flexible tube to pass through in order to be connected to the cannula 3; while the other hole 14 is slightly smaller in order to affix the flexible tube when connected to the cannula; so that the transversal slot 29 allows the flexible tube to move from one duct to the other and is also used as a choke point in the flexible tube, suspending the flow of paint.
 2. A system for supplying paint, as requested in claim 1, characterized by that the paint container 23, is a closed container, with a perforation in the central upper part, where the lower end of the flexible tube 4 is tightly inserted; and a conventional gasket 30 is used to hermetically seal the junction between the flexible tube and the perforation of the container.
 3. A system for supplying paint, as requested in the aforementioned claims, characterized by that the entry valve is placed inside the lower end of the flexible tube
 4. 4. A system for supplying paint, as requested in the aforementioned claims characterized by that the suction/expulsion pump is placed into the handle of a roller brush; where said handle is connected to a tube 32 which supports the roller fabric 34 and delivers paint to the mentioned roller fabric through perforations 33 located in the far end of the tube 32 which supports said fabric. 